Single tooth restorations (e.g., crowns) present the unique requirement that they must be supported non-rotationally on an underlying structure (e.g., a natural tooth prep, an abutment/implant assembly, etc.). When the underlying structure is a prepared natural tooth, this non-rotational supporting requirement is met in the normal course of preparing the natural tooth with a non-circular cross-section. Similarly, when the underlying structure is an abutment secured to a dental implant, this non-rotational supporting requirement is met by preparing and/or using an abutment with a noncircular cross-section. This latter scenario can be more complicated due to the added connection between the dental implant and the abutment.
Typically, a dental implant is implanted into bone of a patient's jaw (e.g., maxilla and/or mandible). While numerous design iterations have been marketed, overall there have been two types of dental implant-abutment interfaces within these assemblies: (i) an external-connection dental implant and (ii) an internal-connection dental implant. The external-connection dental implant design typically includes a hexagonal boss (or another anti-rotation feature) protruding out of the dental implant's upper surface, whereas the internal-connection dental implant design typically includes a hexagonal socket (or another anti-rotation feature) extending down and into the dental implant's upper portion. With either dental implant (e.g., external/boss or internal/socket), a corresponding abutment engages the dental implant in a non-rotational fashion and is typically secured thereto with a screw.
In most restorative situations, a central or main axis of the tooth restoration and/or of the post of the abutment is at a non-zero angle relative to the central or main axis of the dental implant. This is typically the case due to the natural anatomy of most patients. As such, when installed, natural forces (e.g., from chewing) generated in the mouth are transferred from the tooth restoration (e.g., crown), to the abutment, and then to the dental implant installed in the patient's jawbone. Because of the angle between the central axis of the tooth restoration and the central axis dental implant, the forces also create bending moments that can cause the abutment and dental implant to separate, which can allow leakage into the dental implant.
One solution to mitigating the negative impact of such forces on the connection site between the abutment and the dental implant involves the use of angled dental implants. Angled dental implants typically include an angled mating surface (e.g., angled relative to horizontal) for connection with the abutment and an angled threaded bore (e.g., angled relative to vertical) for receiving the screw that holds the abutment to the dental implant at an angle relative to a central or main axis of the dental implant. While such angled dental implants aid in mitigating the negative impact of the natural forces at the connection site (between the abutment and the dental implant), the inclusion of such internal angled features within the dental implant generally requires the dental implant to have a relatively larger sized outer diameter to accommodate such angled features therein (e.g., a 6 millimeter outer diameter). More specifically, the inclusion of such internal angled features can cause a portion of an outer wall of the angled dental implant to have thickness that is much thinner than the rest of the wall forming the angled dental implant. As such, if the outer diameter is too small (even if just at a relatively small portion of the angled dental implant), the angled dental abutment may be prone to easily break/snap/fail. Due to these limitations, angled dental implants have typically been limited to having at least a 4.5 millimeter outer diameter; however, such angled dental implants are not typically suitable for use in the anterior maxilla/mandible as the anterior maxilla/mandible in many patients is not able to support dental implants with such a large outer diameter.
Thus, a need exists for angled dental implants with relatively smaller outer diameters (e.g., 3.0 mm, 3.25 mm, 3.5 mm, 4.0 mm, etc.) for use, for example, in the anterior maxilla/mandible of a patient. The present disclosure is directed to solving these problems and addressing other needs.